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RANSFORMEDTINTO HIS IMAGEINTO HIS IMAGEINTO HIS IMAGE

2Corinthians 3:1818And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit

What does it mean to be Transformed: – a marked change in form, nature and appearance.

Let’s look at a few examples. A mustard seed is small but when planted in fertile ground it becomes one of the biggest trees. The Word says that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed planted inside of us.

Matthew 13:31…” He gave them another parable [to consider], saying, “The kingdom of heaven is

like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

The potential to be transformed is planted in all of us. We must just allow the Holy Spirit to help us grow into the fullness of who God created us to be. Just like a mustard seed can’t see its full potential, so we can’t always see our own potential, but God does. A seed must first go into the ground and die to its old form. Then it will start to grow into its new form which later becomes a big tree.

A butterfly starts off as a caterpillar but then transforms into the most beautiful butterfly. The caterpillar didn’t know the ability within him to become a butterfly but as he allowed the course of life to play out he became what God originally created him to be.

A caterpillar doesn’t have a choice but to follow the course of its life cycle. If the butterfly for example refuses to go into the next phase of its life cycle where he has to enter into a cocoon, he would die as a caterpillar and never become the beautiful butterfly he actually was created to be. It is the same with us, the day we are born God has our whole life planned. You can’t see the end product but God does. If we will just trust Him and obey Him and enter into every stage of transformation He has in store for us we will reach and grow into our full potential and destiny.

The Scripture above says that, as we behold continually as in a mirror the glory of God we will be transformed into His image. This should tell you

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INTO HIS IMAGEINTO HIS IMAGEINTO HIS IMAGE

that all of us should reach our destinies by being transformed into His image and likeness. God created us to manifest His Kingdom to this world. We must manifest Christ in us to this world. We must allow Him to become more in us and we must become less, The caterpillar had to die in its form and be transformed into the image of a butterfly. The mustard seed had to go into the ground and die in its form of being a seed and grown into a big tree. They both changed in form, nature and appearance. In the same way, we must die to ourselves, our ways and nature and be resurrected in the image of Christ. The Word of God says: He must become more and we must become less.

When we behold Him with an

unveiled face we will be transformed into His image from one degree of glory to another.

Meaning of an unveiled face:We are free because of the price that Christ paid on the cross for us and therefore we have no need to cover our faces, as slaves did before they came into the presence of a great king. In Bible traditions slaves had to cover their faces when they were in the presence of a king. You could clearly see the difference between slaves and those of royalty because of the veils they had to wear.

When Christ died on the cross the veil was torn, the veil that separated us as slaves from the presence of the

King. We are no longer slaves but we are now sons of God who stand before Him with unveiled faces.

There is no veil over our hearts, and therefore none over the eyes of our spiritual vision. We are as Moses was when he stood before the Lord with the veil withdrawn.

Meaning of being transformed:Changed into the same image: —literally, being transfigured into the same image. “Conformed to the likeness” (or image) “of His Son.

Colossians 1:15 …” He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the

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Gpreeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation.”

In the book of Colossians, we see God mirrored in Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. Christ became flesh so that we can stand before God with an unveiled face; Christ is the image of God made flesh. As we gaze, with our face unveiled, INTO that mirror, which is Christ in the form of the Word of God (Bible) a change comes over us. The image of the old evil Adam - nature becomes less distinct, and the image of the new man, after the likeness of Christ, takes its place. We “faintly give back what we adore,” and man, in his measure and degree, becomes, as he was meant to be at his creation, like Christ, “the image of the invisible God.

Meaning of - From glory to glory:‘From faith to faith “and from “death to death”

To go from Glory to Glory does not mean the same as being transfigured or transformed. It is moving through faith when we accept Christ as our Saviour and enter into death of your old man so that the new man may be resurrected in Christ. For something new to come the old man must first pass away

“From faith to faith”Romans 1:17…” For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed in a way that awakens more faith]. As it is written and forever remains written, “THE JUST and UPRIGHT SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

“Of death to death.” 2 Corinthians 2:16…” to the latter one an aroma from death to death [a fatal, offensive odor], but to the other

an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh].

To go from glory to glory is passing from one level to another, like climbing a ladder. It is a process rather than a transfiguration. To move from glory to glory happens after you have been transfigured which means reborn into Christ. After you have given your life over to Christ the process of moving from glory to glory begins. I call it the process of purification, wherein the Holy Spirit comes and starts taking over piece by piece as you allow Him to move in you from one degree of glory to another.

In these two Scriptures above, you will see that first you must move from faith to faith. By faith you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, and then His Spirit comes and dwells in you, He makes His home in you which means that death then takes place, with Christ in you, you die to your old habits and you are risen in Christ. Your old sinful nature then dies as the Scripture above says, your sin smells like death and as Christ is resurrected in you, you start giving off a sweet-smelling aroma which is Christ in you. With Christ now in you. You will grow from glory to glory in Him by spending time in prayer and in His Word. The Word of God will transform you and move you from Glory to Glory.

This is the part where the mustard seed is planted, it transfigures from a seed into a small tree, but after transfiguration takes place the tree doesn’t stop growing. It grows from Glory to Glory, it grows from a small tree into a big tree which in its time bares fruit and gives shade. It is the same with us. We come to salvation where

we are transfigured, but we can’t stop there. Now we must start growing from Glory to Glory until we come to maturity in Christ where we can manifest the kingdom of heaven on earth.

How do we grow?The Word of God transforms us and as we read it we grow from glory to glory.

Hebrews 4:12-13 For the Word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged (b)

sword, penetrating as far as the division of the (c)soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we must give account.

Very few people understand the power of the Word of God. The Word of God was in the beginning. The Word of God is Christ. Just like God spoke the world into existence, He spoke Christ into existence.1 John 1-2: I am writing about what existed from the beginning, what (a)we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life [the One who existed even before the beginning of the world, Christ]— 2 and the Life [an aspect of His being] was manifested, and we have seen [it as eyewitnesses] and testify and declare to you [the Life], the eternal Life who was [already existing] with the Father and was [actually]

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TWritten by Linda Chuter

made visible to us [His followers].Here the scripture confirms that

Christ is the Word of God, when we read the Word we are looking into a mirror where we will see and find Christ and our identities in Him.

I once had a vision concerning the power of the Word of God. We were ministering at a ladies camp. During one of the sessions the pastor leading that session requested that we all form a circle and start declaring scripture over the area where we were.

Every one held hands and started praying one by one. In that moment I was caught up in a vision. I saw God sitting on His throne, all I could see was from His knees down and in front of Him was a Bible, the Word of God written down. I heard everyone praying as if I was standing next to God hearing what He was hearing, some prayers sounded like a mumble and had no meaning or impact, then I heard others praying Scripture. As they were praying these Scriptures I saw God paging through the Bible to that specific Scripture and then I saw the word coming alive. I saw a ball of fire coming out of that Scripture and sent down to earth to accomplish its work.

Isaiah 55:11So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;

It will not return to Me void (useless, without result), Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it

I saw that ball of fire consuming everything in its path which is of darkness and not of the will and purpose of the spoken Word. I realized that day that the Word of God is truly alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.

As the word was spoken I saw it being sent to fulfill its purpose like the Scripture says in Isaiah. I saw people who were sick and how the Word fell on them in the form of fire which is alive. I saw the Word starting to work on the people, the Word went into the situation that was prayed about and started working.

This is what happens in our soul and spirit when we read and declare the word of God. It penetrates the deepest darkest places of our soul. The more we read and believe what we read and apply it, the more we are moving from Glory to Glory. The more we read the Word of God and behold it like a mirror the more we become like Christ. As we read the word our minds are transformed and healing and restoration takes place within us. The Word of God is alive and active and

it makes us grow. As we look into this mirror daily we start believing what we are seeing and in the process, we find our true identities and purpose in Christ.

When you read the Word of God believe what you read and apply it. You will look back in a week, a month or a year and you will see the evidence in your life. You will see how you have grown from Glory to Glory. God’s Word can never return void it will always accomplish what it desires. God has done His part by giving us His Word; all we must do is meditate on it day and night. His word will do the work in us.

So, I want to encourage you to pick up your mirror every morning, look into it, study it and believe it. You will become what is written in the Word and you will be changed into the Image of Christ.

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